Photo caption: Science teacher Greta Kringle celebrates her Golden Apple Award with students and colleagues at Solorio High. All photos courtesy Golden Apple. It’s a big week for teaching in Illinois, with the announcements of the first-ever statewide winners of Golden Apple Awards. The awards are kept top-secret and winning teachers get a big surprise when TV news cameras, district leaders…
What Is Chelsea Clinton Doing Reading A Picture Book in the Laundromat?
Today, Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, spent time at the Bubbleland laundromat on Fullerton, not far from Kelvyn Park, reading a picture book to preschoolers and their families. Her visit comes about a year after Chicago librarians began holding story time in laundromats around the city in an effort to reach out to families with young children…
Thanks to New State Money, CPS Invests in Neighborhood STEM, IB and Arts Programs
Today, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced CPS will invest $32 million into STEM, IB, arts and other specialty programming for 32 schools, 22 of which are neighborhood elementary schools. Of the neighborhood elementary schools, one is located in East Garfield Park and 13 are located on the South (6) and Southwest (7) sides. The new money for these programs comes from…
How an Award-Winning Teacher Turned Principal Transformed Bennett Elementary
Today Principal Teresa Huggins takes pride in her successful turnaround of Roseland’s Bennett Elementary. Since she took the helm in 2013, Bennett has transformed from a school on probation to a school at the top of the district’s accountability ratings. It’s one of 22 neighborhood elementary schools on the South and West sides of Chicago where students are showing high…
There’s a Great College Counseling Tool Available For Free, and CPS Isn’t Using It
Why aren’t Chicago’s high school students using a college counseling tool that can help them find proven match colleges? Because the Noble Network of Charter Schools created it. Central office is too overstretched to spread the word about it. And many Chicago Public Schools staff don’t want to use a tool that comes from a charter network they hate. But…
At Kellogg Elementary, ‘Wolfpack Time’ Lets Kids Pursue Their Passions
Photo: IB Coordinator Diane Pajkos (right) helps Kellogg middle schoolers solve a programming problem during Wolfpack Time, an hour of elective courses every Friday. From the second I walked in the door, I could feel Kellogg Elementary’s happy, well-organized vibe. It’s a small, Level 1+ school in Beverly. About two years ago, the school successfully halted a plan to merge…
Racial Equity in School Curriculum Takes Work Beyond February
This piece was originally published on Education Post as “It’s Going to Take More Than a Black History Month Report to See Racial Equity in Our Schools.” Co-author Kathleen Hayes has been around the k-12 education block, first as a Chicago high school English teacher and later in Chicago Public Schools central office and several education nonprofits and research organizations,…
Election Special: Let’s Not Forget the Story of Vallas, Chico and CPS Teacher Pensions
Election Day is Tuesday and many people will likely get out and vote this weekend. So it seems like a good time to remind Chicago Unheard readers of the history behind the CPS teacher pension crisis and the role two current mayoral candidates had in what happened: Paul Vallas and Gery Chico. In his response to a Sun-Times candidate questionnaire,…